The present invention relates in general to a system for connecting a drive unit to a host apparatus. More particularly, the invention is concerned with a system for connecting a drive unit for an optical information/data recording medium or the like capable of recording digital video/audio information or data to a reproducing apparatus.
As an optical information/data recording medium capable of recording digital video/audio information or signals, there is known, for example, a digital video disk or digital versatile disk (herein-after referred to as DVD in abbreviation). In the following description, it is assumed that the present invention is directed to a system for connecting a DVD drive unit for an optical disk to a DVD reproducing apparatus by using a general-purpose interface of connector-connection type. It should however be understood that this is only for the purpose of illustration. The present invention is never restricted to the system for the DVDs.
As the drive unit connecting system such as mentioned above, it is conceivable to incorporate a first authentication-dedicated IC chip as a part of a drive controller of the DVD drive unit while incorporating a second authentication-dedicated IC chip capable of establishing authenticity through cooperation with the first authentication-dedicated IC chip in a control unit of a DVD reproducing apparatus, wherein upon connection of the DVD drive unit to the DVD reproducing apparatus through the medium of a general-purpose interface such as ATA interface (At attachment interface), SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) or the like in a connecter-like fashion, authenticity of the DVD drive unit and/or that of the DVD reproducing apparatus is confirmed through cooperation of the first and second authentication-dedicated IC chips by checking enciphered information, and only when the authenticity is established, the DVD drive controller (i.e., controller of the DVD drive unit) is allowed to be electrically connected to the control unit of the DVD reproducing apparatus. Owing to the arrangement mentioned above, only the DVD drive unit and the DVD reproducing apparatus which are authentically allowed to be interconnected can be electrically and mechanically connected to each other.
However, in that case, there arises necessity for mounting or packing the expensive authentication-dedicated IC chips in both the controller of the DVD drive unit and the control unit of the DVD reproducing apparatus, respectively, which will of course lead to increase of manufacturing cost of the optical disk reproduction system as a whole, giving rise to a problem. Parenthetically, a combination of the DVD drive unit and the DVD reproducing apparatus is herein referred to as the optical disk reproduction system.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a drive unit connecting system which can inhibit normal operation when a drive unit is connected to a system other than a destined or authenticated one without the need for employing the expensive IC chips dedicated for the authentication.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a drive unit connecting system for connecting a drive unit for an optical information/data recording medium to a reproducing apparatus serving as a destined or authenticated host apparatus through the medium of a general-purpose interface, which system is capable of inhibiting normal operation when the drive unit is connected to a reproducing apparatus other than the destined one without the need for employing expensive IC chips for the authentication.
In view of the above and other objects which will become apparent as the description proceeds, there is provided according to an aspect of the present invention a drive unit connecting system for connecting a drive unit to a host apparatus by using a general-purpose interface, which system is so arranged as to enable the drive unit to be connected to the host apparatus by performing software-based processing on either command(s) or parameter(s) or alternatively on both of the command(s) and the parameter(s).
Further, according to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a drive unit connecting system for connecting a drive unit to a host apparatus by using a general-purpose interface, wherein in the host apparatus, parts or all of proper commands and parameters are subjected to at least one processing selected from a group consisting of a processing for inverting each bit value (bit value 1xe2x86x920, bit value 0xe2x86x921), less significant bit/more significant bit (e.g. least significant bit (LSB) and most significant bit (MSB)) inversion processing, addition processing for adding N (a given value) to the command(s) and the parameter(s), respectively, subtraction processing for subtracting N (a given value) from the command(s) and the parameter(s), respectively, and a processing for changing sequence in the parameter is executed with resultant command(s) and parameter(s) resulting from the processing as executed being sent to the drive unit, and wherein the drive unit is so arranged that processing reverse to that executed in the host apparatus is performed on the command(s) and the parameter(s) received from the host apparatus, to thereby allow the drive unit to be connected to the host apparatus only for the proper command(s) and parameter(s).
Furthermore, according to yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided a drive unit connecting system for connecting a drive unit to a host apparatus by using a general-purpose interface, wherein at least one processing selected from a group consisting of a processing for generating command(s) which is not prescribed for the general-purpose interface, a processing for generating reserve bit(s) in parameter(s) and a processing for generating second key information (KEY #2) on the basis of first key information (KEY #1) which has been sent from the drive unit and which differs from the second key information (KEY #2) is executed in the host apparatus with result of the processing as executed being sent to the drive unit, and wherein in the drive unit, the command(s) and the parameter(s) as received are analyzed, to thereby allow the drive unit to be connected to the host apparatus only when matching has been found as a result of the analysis.
In a preferred mode for carrying out the invention, such arrangement may be adopted that execution of the processing(s) can be changed at a desired time point which depends on the absolute clock time, version of the drive unit or the like.
Additionally, according to still another aspect of the invention, there is provided a drive unit connecting system for connecting a DVD drive unit for an optical information/data recording medium to a DVD reproducing apparatus by using a general-purpose interface, wherein the DVD drive unit is comprised of a reading unit for reading information recorded on an optical information/data recording medium, and a DVD drive controller for performing control such that video/audio data can be extracted from the information read out by the reading unit, and wherein the DVD reproducing apparatus is comprised of a work memory for storing the video/audio data supplied from the DVD drive controller, a video/audio output unit for outputting the video/audio data, a decoder unit for reading out the video/audio data stored in the work memory for converting the video/audio data as read out into desired video/audio data to thereby output the desired video/audio data to the video/audio output unit, and a control unit for controlling the DVD drive controller, the work memory and the decoder unit, wherein connection of the DVD drive unit to the DVD reproducing apparatus is enabled through software-based processing(s) performed on either command(s) or parameter(s) or alternatively on both of the command(s) and the parameter(s).
In addition, according to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a drive unit connecting system for connecting a DVD drive unit for an optical information/data recording medium to a DVD reproducing apparatus by using a general-purpose interface, wherein the DVD drive unit is comprised of a reading unit for reading information recorded on the optical information/data recording medium, and a DVD drive controller for performing control such that video/audio data can be extracted from the information read out by the reading unit, and wherein the DVD reproducing apparatus is comprised of a work memory for storing the video/audio data supplied from the DVD drive controller, a video/audio output unit for outputting video/audio data, a decoder unit for reading out the video/audio data stored in the work memory for converting the video/audio data as read out into desired video/audio data, to thereby output the desired video/audio data to the video/audio output unit, and a control unit for controlling the DVD drive controller, the work memory and the decoder unit, wherein in the DVD reproducing apparatus, parts or all of proper command(s) and parameter(s) is subjected to at least one processing selected from a group consisting of a processing for inverting each bit value (bit value 1xe2x86x920, bit value 0xe2x86x921), less significant bit/more significant bit (LSB and MSB) inversion processing, addition processing for adding N (a given value) to the command(s) and the parameter(s), respectively, subtraction processing for subtracting N (a given value) from the command(s) and the parameters), respectively, and a processing for changing sequence in the parameter is executed with resultant command(s) and parameter(s) from the processing being sent to the DVD drive unit for the optical information/data recording medium, and wherein in the DVD drive unit, processing reverse to that executed in the DVD reproducing apparatus is performed on the command(s) and the parameter(s) received from the DVD reproducing apparatus to thereby allow the DVD drive unit to be connected to the DVD reproducing apparatus only for the proper command(s) and parameter(s).
Furthermore, according to a yet further aspect of the invention, there is provided a drive unit connecting system for connecting a DVD drive unit for an optical information/data recording medium to a DVD reproducing apparatus by using a general-purpose interface, wherein the DVD drive unit is comprised of a reading unit for reading information recorded on the optical information/data recording medium, and a DVD drive controller for performing control such that video/audio data can be extracted from the information read out by the reading unit, and wherein the DVD reproducing apparatus is comprised of a work memory for storing the video/audio data supplied from the DVD drive controller, a video/audio output unit for outputting video/audio data, a decoder unit for reading out the video/audio data stored in the work memory for converting the video/audio data as read out into desired video/audio data, to thereby output the desired video/audio data to the video/audio output unit, and a control unit for controlling the DVD drive controller, the work memory and the decoder unit, wherein at least one processing selected from a group consisting of a processing for generating command(s) which are not prescribed for the general-purpose interface, a processing for generating reserve bits in parameter(s) and a processing for generating second key information (KEY #2) on the basis of first key information (KEY #1) which has been sent from the DVD drive unit and which differs from the second key information (KEY #2) is executed in the DVD reproducing apparatus with result of the processing as executed being sent to the drive unit, and wherein in the DVD drive unit, the command(s) and the parameter(s) as received are analyzed to thereby allow the DVD drive unit to be connected to the DVD reproducing apparatus only when matching has been found as a result of the analysis.
In another preferred mode for carrying out the invention, such arrangement may be adopted that execution of the processing(s) can be changed at a desired time point in dependence on the absolute clock time, version of the drive unit or the like.
As will be appreciated from the foregoing, by virtue of the arrangements taught by the present invention as described above, there can be realized the drive unit connecting system which is capable of connecting the drive unit to the host system by using a general-purpose interface without resorting to the expensive authentication-dedicated IC chips and which can render it impossible for the drive unit to operate normally when an apparatus other than the authentic or proper one is connected thereto through the medium of the general-purpose interface. In other words, only the combination of a specific drive unit and a host apparatus incorporating a specific decoder unit which is proper to the drive unit allows the drive unit to operate normally. Besides, because the general-purpose interface is employed, functions (e.g. range of support commands and preset parameters, etc.) as well as performance (data transferring rate, prefetching/buffering rate, etc.) can be changed or modified in dependence on the host apparatuses (decoder units) which are designed to be connected with one and the same drive unit.
Furthermore, owing to the arrangement of the drive unit connecting system for connecting the DVD drive unit to the DVD reproducing apparatus by using the general-purpose interface, normal operation of the drive unit is rendered impossible when other apparatus than the proper one is connected to the general-purpose interface without need for resorting to the expensive authentication-dedicated IC chips. To say in another way, only the combination of a specific DVD drive unit and a DVD reproducing apparatus incorporating a specific decoder unit proper to the DVD drive unit can make the DVD drive unit operate normally. Additionally, because the general-purpose interface is employed, functions (e.g. range of support commands and preset parameters, etc.) as well as performance (data transferring rate, prefetching/buffering rate, etc.) can be altered or modified in dependence on the DVD reproducing apparatuses (decoder unites) which are designed to be connected with one and the same DVD drive unit.
The above and other objects, features and attendant advantages of the present invention will more easily be understood by reading the following description of the preferred embodiments thereof taken, only by way of example, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.